Diary of a food-loving Central New Yorker

06/14/2009

My big, fat Greek belly

What do you do the afternoon after you've been to a birthday dinner, replete with drinks, passed hors d'oeuvres, a main course of roast lamb, and strawberry cake with whipped cream icing and almonds for the guest of honor?

Head over to the 36th annual Greek Cultural Festival at St. Sophia's Church in DeWitt, of course, and cue up for lunch.

This is what the food line looked like at about 2 p.m. Sunday afternoon, two hours before the conclusion of the four-day festival. Festival organizer Chris Tzetzis shouted to late-comers not to be intimidated by the long line. You will be feasting in 10 minutes, he promised. And he was right.

One of us took a spot in the food line while the other went to the beer tent and came back with two cold ones. As we moved forward in the line, I darted out for a slab of spanakopita, a savory Greek delicacy made with layers of flaky phyllo dough stuffed with spinach and feta cheese, and two forks.

A trip to Greek Fest wouldn't be complete without gyros, the sole reason for wading into that line in the first place.

Gyros are pockets of warm pita bread stuffed with shaved, roasted lamb, onions and tomatoes and topped with tzatziki, a sauce/dressing made with cucumber, Greek yogurt and garlic. They're sort of a sloppy mess of a sandwich, but in a really good way.

If there is a downside to attending Greek Fest on its final day, it's that the previous days' hordes had eaten their way through all the baklava, diples, kataifi and other traditional, honey-drenched pastries lovingly prepared each year by the women of St. Sophia's.

That gave us pause: Pause to remind ourselves that the last thing we really needed right then was a honey-soaked sweet.

And pause to remind ourselves that there is always next year. Thank you, St. Sophia's, for the great food and glimpse of Greek culture.